Identity Flashcards
1
Q
Socialisation into Class culture: BOURDIEU
A
- Different classes have different levels of economic, cultural and social capital. These are passes on from parents to children and affect the achievement and experience of children at school and university. Working class children in university feel like a ‘fish out of water’
- The economic and social capital that a family has will be strongly linked to the occupations of the parents
2
Q
Socialisation into Class culture: KEDDIE
A
- There is a strong relationship between teachers perceptions of a child’s ability and their social class. Children from middle class backgrounds are much more likely to be placed into top sets and those from working class backgrounds to be placed into bottom sets
3
Q
Socialisation into Class culture: KARL MARX
A
- Religion maintains class inequality. It reinforces and justifies hierarchy and is used to distract the working class from their occupation
4
Q
Socialisation into Class culture: MAC AN GHAIL
A
- Identified different peer groups that had developed in a school. These tended to be based around different social classes. They were placed in the bottom sets, often misbehaved and saw school work as feminine. Their peer group was based around acting tough and looking after your mates
5
Q
Socialisation into Class culture: FEINSTEIN
A
- Middle class parents place more emphasis on the value of education than working class parents. The main factor behind middle class achievement in education is the degree of parental interest and support
6
Q
Socialisation into Class culture: WILMOT AND YOUNG
A
- Working class families value family life more than middle class families who may see work and a career as more important. This may be because working class families gain less satisfaction from work and compensate by focussing their attention on the family
7
Q
Socialisation into Class culture: BRUCE
A
- Woman tend to be more religious and spiritual than men, however the type of this changes dependant on social class
- Working class woman tend to retain a belief in forms of religion that a more passive with ‘obscure forces beyond their control’ such as superstition and fortune telling
- Middle class woman tend to follow religions that have more individual control and personal development such as self healing and Buddhism
8
Q
Socialisation into Class culture: MOONEY
A
- A key feature of the upper class is their invisibility. The upper class operate ‘social closure’, meaning their education, leisure time and daily lives are separated from and partially invisible to the rest of the population
9
Q
Does class still matter? MARXISM
A
- Whether you were part of the Bourgeoisie or the Proletariat was the main influence upon your life chances
- The Bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat
Therefore class is a crucial factor in determining life chances
10
Q
Does class still matter? BOURDIEU (neo marxism)
A
- Higher classes have more economic and social capital. More significantly the culture of the higher classes is held in higher esteem.
- They therefore have more
cultural capital. All three of these have a significant effect on life chances
11
Q
Does class still matter? FUNCTIONALISM
A
- Functionalists believe that society is based on meritocracy (hard work and ability = reward)
- Money and status are awarded on the basis of merit, they therefore disagree that a person’s social class is a significant factor in their life chances
12
Q
Does class still matter? PAKULSKI AND WATERS (postmodernism)
A
- Class is much less of an influence on our identities in today’s society. People used to follow class based activities but nowadays lifestyles are more diverse and flexible. Identities are now based around consumption rather than production. What we spend our money on rather than how we earn it
13
Q
Does class still matter? HUTTON
A
- The decline in trade union memberships and the manufacturing sector, and the dispersal of working class communities, has eroded working class identities
14
Q
Socialisation into ethnic culture: GHUMANN (family)
A
- Asian families socialise children into particular values including
• Being obedient, loyal and respectful to elders
• Respect for religion
• Using their ‘mother tongue’
• Obligation to extend kin
15
Q
Socialisation into ethnic culture: ARCHER AND FRANCIS (family)
A
- Chinese families place particular emphasis on the value of education. They make sacrifices to ensure their children are successful at school
16
Q
Socialisation into ethnic culture: SPENCER ET AL (family)
A
- Eastern Europe migrants spent relatively little time socialising with British people. In their research, one Ukrainian waitress commented that ‘They British do not let you into their circles’
17
Q
Socialisation into ethnic culture: GILLBORN
A
- Found that despite trying to treat everyone fairly, teachers tended to perceive students differently due to their ethnicity
• In particular they often say the behaviour of black students as a threat where no threat was intended
• Black students are more likely to be punished
• As a result there is a lot of tension between white teachers and black students
18
Q
Socialisation into ethnic culture: COTTLE
A
- Argues that despite a big increase in the representation of ethnic minorities in the media, minorities are still overwhelmingly represented in negative ways
19
Q
Socialisation into ethnic culture: JACOBSON
A
- Points out that young British Pakistanis see being Muslim as more important than being Pakistani or British. Islam influences their identities in terms of their dress, diet, worship, behaviour and everyday routines.l
They may use religion in a defensive way as a reaction to feeling excluded from ‘white society’
20
Q
Socialisation into ethnic culture: SEWELL
A
- Argues that identity of Black teenagers is focussed upon being hyped-male and ‘gangsta’ in the eyes of their peers. This highly masculine identity stresses ring ultra confident and challenging authority. Sewell argues that this identity is to compensate for:
• The absence of father figures in many Black families
• The way the education system treats Black youths
• Racism in wider society
21
Q
Socialisation into ethnic culture: HEWITT
A
- Considers the white ‘backlash’ against multiculturalism. Policies designed to achieve equality have been perceived as unfair to the white community, and a white working- lass person under pressure economically has often reacted with anger at perceived ‘positive discrimination’ in favour of ethnic minorities
22
Q
Socialisation into ethnic culture: SONG
A
- Shows how many Chinese living in the UK are employed in the food and catering sector. This is connected to the importance of Chinese restaurants and Takeaways also, over a third of doctors in the NHS are described as Asian. This may link with the status that having a doctor in the family brings to Indian families
23
Q
Hybridity: WINSTON JAMES
A
- Suggests that the experience of racism unified the culture and identity of African-Caribbean’s in the UK. Black people from the Caribbean has cultural differences based on their island of origin, and may also have been divided based on the darkness of skin, a hierarchy of colour imposed by colonialism.
However, in the UK, the common experience of racism had the effect of drawing African Caribbean’s together
24
Q
Hybridity: JOHAL
A
- Studied second and third generation British Asians and found that they adopt a British one. age describes how Asian youths adopt a ‘white mask’ so that they can fit in with white people at school and college but they can show they are culturally different when necessary
25
Q
Hybridity: WINSTON JAMES
A
- Suggests that the experience of racism unified the culture and identity of African-Caribbeans in the UK. Black people from the Caribbean had cultural differences based on their island of origin, and may also have been divided based on the darkness of skin, a hierarchy of colour imposed by colonialism. However, in the UK, the common experience of racism had the effect of drawing African Caribbeans together.
26
Q
Hybridity: JOHAL
A
- Studied second and third generation British Asians and found that they adopt a dual identity because they inherit an Asian identity which is ascribed and they adopt a British one. He described how Asian youths adopt a “white mask” so that they can fit in with white people at school and college but they can show they are culturally different when necessary
27
Q
Hybridity: BALLARD
A
- Found that although there are major differences between Asian and mainstream culture; young Asians can navigate between the two cultures with ease
- They “switch codes”: in their parents’ home they fit into Asian expectations, but outside they blend into mainstream lifestyles.
28
Q
Hybridity: BURDSEY
A
- Studied young British Asian footballers and found that they are strongly influenced by White and Black teammates. In particular, their identities were focussed around designer clothing, and using alcohol and recreational drugs. Their ethnic identity was seen as a lower priority that their identity as a footballer and their main priority was fitting in with eh football community
29
Q
Hybridity: GHUMAN
A
- Studied Hindu and Sikh girls in the UK and described how they use “compartmentalism” to cope with pressure from parents and racism in school. At home they wear traditional dress, speak Punjabi or Hindi, and act as respectful daughters but at school they wear English dress and are more assertive in their personalities like their English peers
30
Q
Hybridity: MODOOD
A
- Highlights the degree mixed ethnicity relationships. Two out of five children born to a Black parent also have a White parent. Nearly 20% of British men, and 10% of British woman with Indian or Asian origins live with White partners
31
Q
Hybridity: BACK
A
- Studied White, Asian and Black young people in South London and found a great deal of inter-ethnic friendship, interaction and cultural borrowing. New identities were being formed which brought Black and White people closer together, blurring divisions of race
32
Q
Resistance: CASHMORE AND TROYNA
A
- Argue that there will be a tendency for ethnic minorities to ‘turn inwards’, to seek support from within their own ethnic communities as a response to the racism that they experience
33
Q
Biological view: PARSONS (gender)
A
- Females have an ‘expressive role’ in the family. This is natural, and based on their childbearing roe, but it is reinforced by socialisation. Males have an ‘instrumental role’ in the family, that of breadwinner and protector. This is also natural, based on their physical strength, but also reinforced through socialisation.
